title: Dynamic landscapes: a model of context and contingency in evolution.
abstract: Although the basic mechanics of evolution have been understood since Darwin, debate continues over whether macroevolutionary phenomena are driven by the fitness structure of genotype space or by ecological interaction. In this paper we propose a simple model capturing key features of fitness-landscape and ecological models of evolution. Our model describes evolutionary dynamics in a high-dimensional, structured genotype space with interspecies interaction. We find promising qualitative similarity with the empirical facts about macroevolution, including broadly distributed extinction sizes and realistic exploration of the genotype space. The abstraction of our model permits numerous applications beyond macroevolution, including protein and RNA evolution.
authors.affiliation: Pluribus Systems, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: David V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Mary M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rorick
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gesell
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Feeney
authors.forename: Jacob G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Foster
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017753:Ecosystem; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA
keywords: Ecological interaction; Fitness landscape; Macroevolution; Neutral networks; Percolation